This is MY journey with MS! I give you my thoughts, feelings, hopes, and prayers. My wish that one day this disease will come to an end. That one day there will be a cure. For now, I hold on to possibility. I HOPE this will help and inspire not only myself but others.

Spring MUST be in the air or something. I woke up this morning with itchy, red eyes. Allergies. That wonderful thing that happens this time of year. Actually I love this time of year. It is when you start to come out of the winter funk that you can sometimes get into. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow. I think it is beautiful. I also think it looks best up in the mountains. I lived in Salt Lake City for 6 years and this is the time of year when you go outside in the morning and it is so beautiful. The mountains still have snow on them, but the sky is blue, it is sunny, and it is finally starting to warm up a bit. That is a great feeling! It makes you want to go out and play.

A few new things. I have updated my blog a bit. If you will notice off to the right. I made some formatting changes. I added a section of links for some other MS Bloggers to go check them out. They also deal with this illness each day. MS is one of those illness where each person has a different experience. Although two people may experience the same symptoms, how severe they have those symptoms, for how long they have them, etc. will vary. No two MS patients are the same or have the same story. You may read my experience or the experience of someone else and it may sound similar, and it may be just that similar, but it is not the same. That is part of what is so difficult about this illness. There is not a textbook answer as to what will happen to us, what to expect. No one knows, no one can predict what will happen. Each day is a different day. Just as I hope to inspire people through my blog, I feel it is important that people are aware that there is a whole network of us here who are going through the same thing. You are NOT alone! Also, I have added a guest book. I would encourage you to please go and sign it. I would like to know who is coming and reading the blog and would like to contact you to say thanks, see if there is anything I can do to help you, volunteer if you are with an organization, etc. Please leave me your comments on anything and everything from you like what I have to say to formatting issues to I need help, whatever. Any suggestions you have would also be appreciated. I would love to hear from YOU! Also, I have split up my links. This way there is an easy section to access other bloggers, useful MS links, and then more information on the current treatments available.

Today is my 4th Avonex injection. So, I should be down for the next couple of days. Usually I am sick as can be for about two days once I do my injection. But, what is the alternative. Not take the injection? What does that say to my 11 year old son. So, I take the injection and for two days am pretty much in pain, in bed. This is where blockbuster video has come to know me well. I am a single mom, and I don't like my son to see a lot of what happens. Of course, I can't hide everything from him, and he is TOO smart so he knows everything that goes on. He is so brave about it all. We usually will rent movies and hang out in my room where I can lie in bed and he can hang out with me and watch movies. Something I found that helps me with the pain. Well, I took extra advil last time and I am not sure that I am supposed to do that. It helped a little, but that probably has problems of its own. For me my WHOLE body aches. Every muscle and bone. It is hard to explain the kind of pain. I am just not comfortable sitting in a chair, on the couch, in bed, whatever. But, I decided to buy one of those memory foam mattress pads for my bed. Now, I have a California King size bed and those are really expensive and I was not sure it would work, so I only bought a twin size, so it only fits half the bed, but it does help. It does not take the pain away. That is from the medicine and the MS. But, it helps make me a little more comfortable while lying in bed for those two days and also when I sleep at night. Just a tip for anyone having a hard time with that kind of thing. Well, I hope that you are all doing well. This week has been a little better for me. I have been VERY tired for some reason. I am sure it is just the fatigue that comes along with having MS, anemia, and a vitamin b-12 deficiency. Next week I head back to Seattle to see my neurologist, so hopefully she can shed some light on what has been happening. By the way, Amanda is not doing well now, so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Get well soon! I hope today was a better day! For the rest of you keep smiling. :) Take care.

Thursday, March 16, 2006 |
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About Me

I was diagnosed with MS in 2004, have been through all of the FDA approved treatments I qualify for and now am participating in the HALT MS Study. This is my story...my life with MS (among other things).